What can you do on a B-1 business visa? Allowed activities and the line with work

Who is the B-1 for, and what is it not for?

B-1 is the visitor classification for business. The State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), the guidance consular officers follow when they decide visa applications, says business in the B-1 sense generally means business activity other than skilled or unskilled labor. It is not for someone who intends to get a job and work in the United States.

The FAM defines the line using a Board of Immigration Appeals decision, Matter of Hira. A tailor who measured customers in the United States for suits made and shipped from abroad was a proper B-1 visitor, because his principal place of business, and the place his profits accrued, was outside the United States. Most accepted B-1 activities follow that pattern: they are incidental to work done mainly abroad.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(A)

What can a B-1 visitor do?

The FAM lists six core activities that fit B-1 classification for an applicant who is otherwise eligible:

• Commercial transactions that do not involve gainful employment in the United States, such as a merchant taking orders for goods manufactured abroad.
• Negotiating contracts.
• Consulting with business associates.
• Litigating.
• Taking part in scientific, educational, professional or business conventions, conferences or seminars.
• Undertaking independent research.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(B)

Which other business activities does the State Department accept?

The FAM also lists specific situations where B-1 is used even though the person does some work in the United States. Each comes with conditions:

• Board members: a member of the board of directors of a US corporation coming to attend a board meeting or carry out other functions of board membership.
• Investors: someone looking for a US investment, including one that could later support E-2 treaty investor status, is not refused a B visa for that reason alone. An EB-5 investor may visit to examine or monitor possible investments if they otherwise qualify for a B visa, including not intending to apply for a green card from inside the United States.
• Installing, servicing or repairing equipment: someone coming to install, service or repair commercial or industrial equipment or machinery bought from a company outside the United States, or to train US workers to do so. The contract of sale must require the seller to provide the service or training, the visitor must have unique knowledge essential to that obligation, and the visitor must receive no pay from a US source.
• Specialized trainers: someone coming for a temporary period to train or transfer knowledge to US workers, including on specialized or proprietary techniques for industrial equipment, machinery or processes acquired or sourced from a company outside the United States, in support of a qualifying project. They need unique knowledge not widely available in the United States and no US-source pay. The visa is annotated "B-1 SPECIALIZED TRAINER". Part of the FAM guidance on this category is not publicly available.
• Professional athletes: athletes paid nothing from a US source other than prize money, whose principal place of business is abroad and whose salary principally accrues abroad; for a team sport, the team must belong to an international league or the activity must have an international dimension. Support personnel can also qualify if they do the same work abroad for pay, for an athlete or team based abroad, and their salary principally accrues abroad.
• Medical doctors: a doctor coming to observe US medical practice and consult colleagues, with no patient care and no US-source pay.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(3), (4) and (7); 9 FAM 402.2-5(E)(1)–(2); 9 FAM 402.2-5(F)

Where is the line between business and productive work?

The law itself draws the outer line: the statutory definition of a visitor excludes people coming to perform skilled or unskilled labor. Within that, three rules in the sources do most of the work.

• No productive labor or active management. The FAM says investors, like all B-1/B-2 travelers, may not perform productive labor or actively manage the business while in B status. Looking for and checking on an investment is a visit; running the business is not.
• No building or construction work. A person coming to do building or construction work, on site or in a plant, cannot be a B-1 visitor. A B-1 visitor may supervise or train others doing that work, but not do it.
• Unclear cases go to Washington. If a case involves temporary employment in the United States that is not clearly within the listed B-1 categories, the consular officer must ask the State Department's legal office for an advisory opinion before issuing a B-1. The FAM says this is to avoid issuing a B-1 to someone who belongs in a petition-based worker category.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(A); 9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(3), (4) and (7); 9 FAM 402.2-5(E)(1)–(2); 9 FAM 402.2-5(H)

Can a B-1 visitor be paid?

Not with a salary from a US source. A US source may pay an expense allowance or reimburse expenses incidental to the stay, but only up to the actual, reasonable cost of travel to and from the event and basic living costs such as meals, lodging and laundry.

An honorarium is a narrow exception set by section 212(q) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). A B-1 visitor may accept an honorarium and incidental expenses for usual academic activities, such as lecturing or guest teaching, if all of these are true:

• The activity lasts no longer than nine days at any single institution or organization.
• The payment is offered by an institution or organization of the kind described in INA 212(p)(1).
• The honorarium is for services done for the benefit of that institution or organization.
• The visitor has not accepted such payments from more than five institutions or organizations in the last six months.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(F)

What is "B-1 in lieu of H"?

In some cases the FAM allows someone who would qualify for an H-1 or H-3 visa to be classified B-1 instead, for example to perform H-1 services or take part in a training program. The person must receive no salary from a US source, apart from expenses. The pay must keep coming from the employer abroad: the employer must have an office abroad with its payroll disbursed abroad, and the person must customarily work for that foreign employer. The visa is annotated "B-1 IN LIEU OF H". Someone classifiable as H-2 must be classified H-2, even if paid from abroad.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(F)

How long can a B-1 visitor stay?

Under 8 CFR 214.2(b)(1), a B-1 or B-2 visitor may be admitted for not more than one year, and extensions are granted in steps of not more than six months. Members of a religious denomination coming only to do missionary work may get extensions of up to one year each, if the work does not involve selling articles or soliciting or accepting donations.

The period of stay is set at admission by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer and recorded on Form I-94, the arrival record. It is separate from the validity dates printed on the visa: the visa lets a person travel to a port of entry and ask to be admitted; the I-94 shows how long they may stay.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(b)(1)

How does a B-1 extension work?

A visitor who needs more time applies to USCIS on Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, before the date on their I-94. Processing times vary; check the official USCIS processing-times page. USCIS may excuse a late filing only if the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond the applicant's control, the delay was reasonable, the person has not otherwise violated their status, remains a genuine temporary visitor and is not in removal proceedings. A visitor admitted under the Visa Waiver Program cannot extend at all.

For a B-1 or B-2 extension, the Form I-539 instructions ask for the original I-94 for each person on the application and a written statement explaining:

• The reasons for the request.
• Why the extended stay would be temporary, including arrangements made to leave the United States.
• Any effect of the extended stay on the person's foreign employment or residence.
• How the person will support themselves financially while in the United States.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.1(c)(2)–(4) and (e); Form I-539 instructions (edition 08/28/24), p. 2, B-1 and B-2

Fees, as of 19 October 2026

As of 19 October 2026, the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055 (edition 10/16/26), lists the Form I-539 filing fee at $470 on paper or $420 online for general filing, per application. It is a government fee for the application. Fees change, so check the current Form G-1055 before filing.

The State Department's visitor visa application fee was not among the sources checked for this guide, so no amount is given here; our guide to US visa costs and timing covers fees more broadly. Lawyer fees, translations and travel are separate from government fees.

Sources: Form G-1055, Fee Schedule (edition 10/16/26), I-539

Common problems

• Being paid by the US side. Under the FAM, a salary from a US source for services in the United States is outside B-1, even for an activity that would otherwise fit.
• Working in the business you invested in. Investors in B status may not do productive labor or actively manage the business.
• Hands-on construction. Supervising or training is allowed; doing building or construction work is not.
• Filing an extension after the I-94 date has passed. Late filings are excused only in the narrow circumstances above.
• Other employment in the United States. A nonimmigrant may not work unless their classification authorizes it or they have been given permission.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(F); 9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(3), (4) and (7); 9 FAM 402.2-5(E)(1)–(2); 8 CFR 214.1(c)(2)–(4) and (e)

How Visa Trouble can help

We can point you to official information, but we don’t assess or prepare B-1 visa applications or extension requests. Free route discovery at Visa Trouble can show routes worth comparing if your plans go beyond this one. Visa Trouble is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.